HC Deb 18 May 2004 vol 421 cc894-5W
Mr. Carmichael

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to(a) license UK employment agencies and (b) implement the EU Temporary Agency Workers Directive. [172442]

Mr. Sutcliffe

(a) The DTI has no plans to reintroduce licensing arrangements for the private recruitment industry and there is no general support for such a proposal. Licensing schemes, particularly those where a fee is demanded, are burdensome for business and that burden falls especially heavily on small enterprises: The licensing arrangements required by the Employment Agencies Act 1973, which were repealed in 1995 proved not to be effective and were replaced by a new power, introduced under the 1973 Act, to prohibit unsuitable persons from running employment agencies and employment businesses for up to 10 years. The Government does not hesitate to make use of this power where this is warranted.

(b) The proposed Temporary Agency Worker Directive is still under negotiation in the Council of Ministers, though no formal discussions have taken place since the June 2003 Employment Council. From the point where final agreement is achieved on the proposal, implementation is likely to take two to three years.

Mr. Carmichael

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department is taking to prevent employment agencies from levying upfront charges for finding work for clients. [172446]

Mr. Sutcliffe

The Government recently introduced the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. These include a new requirement that an employment agency can only charge a fee, for providing work-finding services for people in certain occupations in the entertainment, modelling and sports sectors, out of the work-seekers' earnings in any such employment that the agency has found for them. This requirement has outlawed the practice of unscrupulous agencies, which took money from workers in the entertainment and modelling sectors but offered little or no work.

In addition, the DTI's Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate follows up every complaint it receives concerning breaches of the Employment Agencies legislation by visiting the agencies' premises to inspect their records. On top of this, the Inspectorate undertakes proactive spot checks and follows up evidence passed to it by other enforcement bodies.